The
Board of Supervisors of the County of Inyo, State of California, met in regular
session at the hour of 9:15 a.m., on Tuesday, October
19, 2004, in the Board of Supervisors Room, County Administrative Center,
Independence, with the following Supervisors present:Chairperson Carroll “Butch” Hambleton presiding, Linda Arcularius,
Julie Bear, Ted Williams, and Michael Dorame.Supervisor Hambleton provided the Invocation, and Supervisor Bear led the
Pledge of Allegiance.

Public
Comment

The
Chairperson announced the public comment period.Supervisor Michael Dorame addressed the Board as a constituent of
the Southern Inyo Health Care District Board of Directors.He reminded everyone that those elected to represent the Special
Districts have the same responsibilities as any other elected official.Supervisor Dorame expressed a desire to have statements erroneously
attributed to him corrected.Supervisor
Dorame went on to quote excerpts from the verbatim transcript of the May
28, 2002, Board of Supervisors meeting regarding the Tobacco Settlement
proceeds going to the hospitals.He
highlighted comments made by Mr. Jim Bilyeu, the President of the Southern
Inyo Health Care District Board, where Mr. Bilyeu said that he felt the
Tobacco Measure which was not written by the Health Care District may have
a legal loophole which allowed the County to retain those settlement funds
already appropriated and pass the remaining funds and any future funds to
the two hospitals; that he did not read the measure word for word before
he supported it, that if he had written it, it would not have had a
loophole, nor did he believe that the people knew what they were voting on
when they were voting for it. Supervisor Dorame reminded the
electorate to hold the appropriate elected officials responsible for their
actions and words; and to make sure that the people representing them are
held to the highest standards and accountable for their actions and not
issuing misrepresentations on the issues as was done by Mr. Bilyeu in this
case.

County
Dept. Reports

Mr.
Chuck Hamilton, Deputy County Administrator, informed the Board that he
would be conducting a workshop next week to update the Board on the Parks
and Campgrounds Improvement Plan.

Senior
Pgrm./Sr. Services Counselor Position

Mr.
Charles Broten, Director of the Inyo-Mono Senior Program, provided
additional information and further justification for the need to hire a
Senior Services Counselor for the Linkages Program.Ms. Jean Dickinson, Director of Health and Human Services, also
provided information regarding the role that Social Services is required
to play with regard to the Linkages Program and other social services
programs offered in the County.Ms.
Dickinson explained that the challenge for rural counties remains in
successfully blending the needs of the communities with the State mandates
regarding personnel, funding controls, etc.She encouraged the Board to continue to take the message of the
need for independent flexibility for rural social services programs to the
State Legislators.The Board
congratulated both Mr. Broten and Ms. Dickinson on the coordination and
cooperative efforts, which have resulted in this recommendation.Moved by Supervisor Arcularius and seconded by Supervisor Williams
to A) amend the authorized strength by adding one full-time Senior
Services Counselor Series (II, III, and IV) and B) authorize the
recruitment and filling of a Senior Services Counselor, II, III or IV
position depending upon qualifications at Range 64 ($2,790 - $3,392,)
Range 67 ($2,995 - $3,636), or Range 69 ($3,151 - $3,814).Motion
carried unanimously.

BofS/Manzanar
Update

Mr.
Frank Hayes, Superintendent of Manzanar Historic Site updated the Board on
Manzanar projects and activities.At
the conclusion of his presentation, Mr. Hayes presented the Board with a
memento of the original Manzanar Auditorium to commemorate the County’s
support of the Manzanar Historic Site.

Resol.
2004-51/ Amargosa Wild & Scenic River Proposal

The
County Administrator provided the Board with a revised copy of the
proposed resolution supporting the Amargosa Wild and Scenic River
Proposal.He explained that
the revision encompassed acknowledgement of the County’s road concerns.Supervisor Dorame read the resolution into the record and
requested that Inyo County be included in referring to the road issues.Supervisor Dorame also read into the record a letter he had
received from the Tecopa Basin Marketing Group supporting the Proposal.Mr. Brian Brown of China Ranch, thanked the Board for their support
of this project and highlighted a few of the benefits he thought the
project would bring to the area.Supervisor
Arcularius requested that upon its adoption that the Resolution be
forwarded to our State and Federal legislators.Representatives of Caltrans and the BLM addressed the Board to also
support the Proposal.On a
motion by Supervisor Dorame and a second by Supervisor Arcularius,
Resolution No. 2004-51 was adopted, supporting
the Amargosa Wild and Scenic River Proposal and in conjunction with the
Proposal, supporting the protection of Inyo County road concerns and the
California Department of Transportation’s (Caltrans) right of way for
State Route 127: motion unanimously passed and adopted.

COA-Purchasing/
Copier Paper

P.
O.

Moved
by Supervisor Bear and seconded by Supervisor Williams to award Bid No.
2004-02 for and authorize the purchase of 500 cartons of 8-1/2” x 11”
white copier paper from Sierra Office Supply, in an amount not to exceed
$24.55 per carton, plus tax.Motion
carried unanimously.

Integ.
Waste/ Bishop Sunland Landfill DWP Lease

Moved
by Supervisor Bear and seconded by Supervisor Williams to approve the
Lease between the County of Inyo and the City of Los Angeles Department of
Water and Power for property currently utilized as the Bishop Sunland
Landfill solid waste disposal site, for the period of July 1, 2004 through
June 30, 2009, at the one year annual amount of $4,770, increasing to
$4,910 per year effective July 1, 2005, contingent upon the Board’s
adoption of future budgets; and authorize the Chairperson to sign.Motion carried unanimously

Resol.
#2004-52/ Bishop Waste Landfill Lease

On
a motion by Supervisor Bear and a second by Supervisor Williams,
Resolution No. 2004-52, was adopted allowing Bishop Waste Disposal to
exercise its option to extend the term of their commercial site lease at
the Bishop-Sunland Landfill to June 30, 2009, at the lease rate of $325
per month: motion unanimously passed and adopted.

Resol.
#2004-53/ Eastern Sierra Propane Landfill Lease

On
a motion by Supervisor Bear and a second by Supervisor Williams,
Resolution No. 2004-53 was adopted, allowing Eastern Sierra Propane to
exercise its option to extend the term of their commercial site lease at
the Bishop-Sunland Landfill to June 30, 2009, at the lease rate of $40 per
month: motion unanimously passed and adopted.

HHS-WIC/WIC
Contract Amendment

Moved
by Supervisor Bear and seconded by Supervisor Williams to approve
Amendment No. A02 to the Contract between the County of Inyo and the
California Department of Health Services, Women, Infants, and Children
Program, increasing the grant by $5,003 to a total amount of $969,319, for
the period of October 1, 2002, through September 30, 2005; and authorize
the Chairperson to sign.Motion
carried unanimously.

The Deputy County
Administrator provided additional information and responded to questions
regarding the proposed soccer field at Millpond.He confirmed that all of the facilities to be provided through the
grant will be ADA compliant and that very little ancillary parking
availability will be lost.Moved
by Supervisor Bear and seconded by Supervisor Williams to A) adopt
Resolution 2004-54, authorizing the submittal of a grant application to
the State of California Resources Agency Department of Parks and
Recreation for the construction of a soccer field at the Millpond
Recreation Area and authorize the Chairperson to sign the application; and
B) adopt the Notice of Exemption and certify the requirement of the
California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) have been satisfied.Motion carried unanimously.

County
Counsel/ Assistant Vacancy

Mr.
Paul Bruce, County Counsel, provided further explanation on the request to
fill an Assistant County Counsel position.The Board Members offered their thanks to Mr. Berry for his
assistance during his tenure with the County and offered good wishes to he
and his family in their future endeavors.Mr. Berry thanked the Board for their well wishes.He recommended to the Board that Mr. Randy Keller, Deputy County
Counsel III be reclassed to the Deputy County IV position as was
recommended during budget preparation.He went on to recommend that the Assistant County Counsel position
be denied.He explained that
he felt he was never given the responsibility of the Assistant and as such
the Assistant position was not needed.Mr. Berry, provided the Board with a copy of the County Counsel’s
organization chart to support his recommendation.Mr. Bruce thanked Mr. Berry for his recommendation and reiterated
his request to fill the Assistant County Counsel position.Moved by Supervisor Arcularius and Supervisor Bear toauthorize filling a vacant Assistant County Counsel position (Flat
$6,343/mo.) and if filling that vacancy results in an additional vacancy
within the Office of County Counsel, authorize the filling of a vacant
Deputy County Counsel III or IV position at Range 82 ($4,278 - $5,195) or
Range 85 ($4,603 - $5,594).Motion
carried unanimously.

Planning-Yucca
Mt./BLM #2 Deep Well Drilling Contract

Mr.
Andrew Remus, Yucca Mountain Coordinator, provided additional information,
further clarification and responded to questions regarding the well
drilling project in Death Valley.He
asked that the recommendation be amended to reflect the contract in the
amount of as opposed to not to exceed.Moved by Supervisor Dorame and seconded by Supervisor Williams to
approve a contract between the County of Inyo and Lang Exploratory
Drilling for well drilling and construction services for constructing BLM
#2 Deep Exploration Monitoring Well, in an amount of $429,080 contingent
upon (a) continued U.S. Department of Energy funding of the Death Valley
Regional Ground Water Monitoring Program and (b) the availability of
sufficient funds in Budget Unit 620697 following the completion of the BLM
#1 Well; and authorize the Chairperson to sign, contingent upon the
appropriate signatures being obtained.Motion
carried unanimously.

BofS/Minute
Approval

Moved
by Supervisor Dorame and seconded by Supervisor Arcularius to approve the
minutes of the July 19 and 20, 2004, Budget Hearings.Motion
carried unanimously,
with Supervisor Bear abstaining.

Board
Members and Staff Reports

The
Board Members reported on their activities during the preceding week,
including RCRC leg platform update, First Five update, a recap of the
Millpond Music Festival and an update on the CAOC Annual Meeting.

Recess

Reconvene

The
Chairperson recessed the regular meeting at 11:40 p.m., reconvening at
12:10 p.m., in closed session, with all Board Members present.

The
Chairperson recessed closed session at 3:25 p.m. to reconvene in open
session, to receive a report on closed session.County Counsel reported that with regard to Agenda Item No. 16. No.
16.CONFERENCE
WITH LEGAL COUNSEL EXISTING LITIGATION (Pursuant to Government Code
Section 54956.9(a) - Sierra Club v. City of Los Angeles,
Department of Water and Power, Inyo County Superior Court Case No. (Non
Assigned) (Write of Mandate), the Board in a unanimous vote, with
Supervisors Arcularius, Williams, Hambleton and Dorame voting yes, and
with Supervisor Bear absent, directed the office of County Council to
represent the County as a real party of interest in this litigation.

Adjournment

The
Chairperson adjourned the regular meeting at 3:27 p.m., to 9:00 a.m.,
October 26, 2004, in the Board of Supervisors Room, at the County
Administrative Center, in Independence.

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